john boehner had said explicitly he's waiting for the senate to act. they won't do anything until that happens. it's really up in the air where we all go from here. there is a little bit of optimism i will say that folks think that mitch mcconnell and harry reid can work something out that won't be a perfect deal. a lot of folks saying they don't like it won't deal with the sequester. that perhaps it won't cut enough taxes, raise any taxes. you'll get sniping from both sides. but there's a hint of optimism this could be averted by new year's eve before the ball drops. >> luke russert throwing around the word optimism this morning. >> we'll see, my friend. we'll see. >> i haven't heard that word a lot this morning. so thank you for that. good to see you. let me head over to nbc's kristen welker. see if she can match that optimism. also, kristen, even if this doesn't work out it sounds like the president might have a backup plan of some kind. >> reporter: that's right. when president obama met with top congressional leaders here at the white house for ab